Epic. That is what Mr Gonzalez said his band M83 was going for here. Then he says it’s going to be a double album. What says epic more than a double album, right? Then that first single comes out – ‘Midnight City’. My goodness where did that come from? I mean pretty much everything on his last album, Saturdays=Youth, was a brillant gorgeous gem, but he was able to top it somehow? It’s undoubtedly the best song of the year – a completely blinding, electro-shoegaze throwback to everything good thing there was to remember about the 80’s. Then the album artwork comes out and anticipation is in the stratosphere. ThenHurry Up, We’re Dreaming itself comes out. The reviews are – like this album – completely out of this world. All expectations are surpassed – like what usually happens whenever M83 put out an album. I come back from Reykjavik the day after it’s release, go straight to Newbury Comics to get it – throw it in the CD player – and I don’t really know what to think. I still don’t. I think deep down I know this album is going to grow on me in leaps and bounds, but it’s taking far longer than I was expecting. Normally I don’t have expectations with albums these days, but this is one I did, which is of course not fair to the album or the artist. Luckily it is growing on me – even listening to one song right now (‘Wait’) which I initially couldn’t stand – but now I’m digging it. My initial reaction though was I don’t think one of disappointment necessarily – as there are top tunes in here for sure – some of his best in fact – but I wasn’t feeling the epic part. How could this be called epic (just because it’s a double album?) when he released something as fantastic as Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts just a few years prior? I guess it just comes down to taste – but for me this one is inconsistent. Stretching it out over 2 discs (and still just 74 minutes total), it seemed they were more concerned about the concept of fulfilling a self-imposed quota of a double album, instead of just letting it flow, letting it just become what it needed to become on it’s own. For me, that would be getting rid of about half the tracks. Condense it down to a single album without the filler instrumentals and a few of the songs that just don’t stand up against the better tracks – and the result would be what I envisioned from the beginning, an album somehow better than his last. Of course with today’s technology I can do with this what I want, remove tracks, rearrange tracks, and come up with my own mix of the best tracks. I kind of wish that is something they did themselves, but maybe that was their intention, to give us all they had and if need be, you can add your own taste and personality and cherry pick what you like. However, this album is growing on me more and more, so maybe it won’t be necessary after all. At it’s core, M83 have taken another step forward. Still exploring the galaxies – M83 are experts at mixing so many styles of yesteryear and adding a dash of their own personality that they come up with a sound that is entirely fresh and all their own. You’ve got shoegaze, rock, electronic, new age, even a dash of witch-house here and there – and now apparently a dead ringer for Peter Gabriel according to some. There’s the truly epic opening statement of ‘Intro’ leading into the aforementioned ‘Midnight City’ – a modern day John Hughes closing credits work of art so unique it’s incredibly hard to describe. The one-two punch of ‘New Map’ and ‘OK Pal’ on disc 2 would lead you to believe you’ve heard what Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine has been promising for two decades now. It’s hard to take something that in it’s truest form is so whispy, so airy, and make it RAWK and somehow make you want to reach for the stars, dancing with such blinding optimism. It’s those life-affirming moments that are so strong in all of M83’s music – it always has you coming back over and over to experience them again – despite the filler. There is soul here so entrenched inexperience, in life – to come from musical styles and musical eras so often dismissed as soulless – it’s quite an achievement. When he hits those moments, he’s peerless, and the world should honestly be thankful for M83. Oh, and then there’s ‘Steve McQueen’. Yup, epic.